HUNDRED and one years ago at the
Berlin Conference, 12 European coun
tries and Turkey agreed that a nation
could claim as its own any of equatorial Afri
ca that it could conquer and develop. The
blank map of central Africa was soon
treatied into a pastiche of European colonies
bordered by rivers, lakes, and convenient
straight lines, with little regard for Africa's
existing ethnic, political, and ecological
patterns.
Germany-to its detriment-chose to
conquer part of the Zanzibar Sultanate, now
Tanzania. Diseases, pests, wild animals,
and local resistance bled German East Afri
ca. At the end of World War I, the colony was
lost. Most of it went to the British, becoming
virtually an extension of British East Africa
on the north-now the nation of Kenya.
This region just south of the Equator is
the land of Livingstone and Stanley, Burton
and Speke, Isak Dinesen and Denys Finch
Hatton, the Leakeys and possibly the earli
est humans. Europeans-not just those
ill-fated Germans, but all who came-set
out to "conquer" or domesticate it to com
mercial uses. Legends and lore portrayed
East Africa as a primal land. The tribal
life and the vast herds of animals verified
it. The people were useful, but the herds had
to give way.
Kenya game control officer J. A. Hunter
noted on one page of his journal that his rhi
no kills between August 29, 1944, and Octo
ber 31, 1946, totaled 996. Even when the
taming of East Africa enjoyed high priority,
pleas to save the animals were heard though
not often heeded. To many, the land with its
rich wildlife seemed inexhaustible.
In the century since the Berlin Conference
we've learned it's not. In 1940 the famous
Serengeti National Park was set aside in
Tanzania to save a sampling of its wildlife.
But the continuing struggle for food and
prosperity in a desperately poor land has
been a tightening noose around the
preserve.
Has it stopped the loss of wildlife? No.
Can it preserve a sampling? You'll find an
swers in our lead story-a blunt report on
the state of this spectacular zoo in the wild.
EDITOR
NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC
May 1986
THE SERENGETI
A Photographic Portfolio 560
The Glory of Life
585
The endless drama of Africa's great animal
preserve is captured by photographer
Mitsuaki Iwago. Author Shana Alexander
attunesherselfto the area'stimeless rhythms
of predator and prey, and finds poachers
upsettinga once balanced ecosystem.
Rising, Shining Tennessee 602
New industry and a fresh appreciation of
down-home values lift the Volunteer State
toward a brighter time, Priit Vesilind and
photographerKaren Kasmauski report.
When the Earth Moves
638
Shifting crustal plates trigger cataclysms
that take more than 32,000 lives in Mexico
andColombia,raisingquestions aboutman's
ability to forecast naturalcatastrophe.
Eruption in Colombia
640
Volcanic heat melts glacial ice, releasing a
mudflow that engulfs the town of Armero.
Bart McDowell and photographer Steve
Raymer survey the disasterscene.
Earthquake in Mexico
654
A continent-wrenchingjolt registering8.1 on
the Richterscale kills more than 9,000. By Al
lenA. Boraiko, with photographsbyJames L.
Stanfield and Guillermo Aldana E.
Newfoundland:
The Enduring Rock
676
Wedded to the sea, Canada'sleast developed
province pins its hopes-andfears-on off
shore oil, Harry Thurston relates. Photo
graphsby Yva Momatiuk andJohn Eastcott.
COVER: A lioness and her cub bask in the
protectionof the Serengeti,Africa's premier
wildlife haven. Photo by Mitsuaki Iwago.
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
IS THE JOURNAL OF
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
FOUNDED 1888
559